Internationally acclaimed DJ Karsh Kale has spent the last three months carrying a laptop loaded with ProTools recording and editing software through the chaos and inspiration that is India. Relishing both the miracles of technology and the wonders of the ancient, Kale stopped in Madras, Delhi and Bombay, popped open the lid of his mobile studio and recorded many of the musicians who will appear on his soon-to-be-released album, the followup to 2001's "Realize."

Among the many instruments that found their way into Kale's computer are the tabla, sarod, sarangi and flute, as well as drums and electric guitars, a mixture that is rich with Indian classical elements, of course, but which also reflects the eclectic and somewhat raw perspective of someone who grew up in New York City. When the India sessions were finished, Kale mixed them with the tracks he'd previously recorded back in New York with the bassist and producer Bill Laswell and tabla great Zakir Hussein. This music is currently making yet another journey as it accompanies Kale on his first trip to Japan for a set in Tokyo this weekend.

Kale has been DJing clubs in North America, Europe and India for the better part of a decade now. If the man is in constant motion, his recordings have traveled even farther afield, penetrating locations that he hasn't even been to yet.

In addition to his own music, Kale is also in demand as a re-mixer and has laid his hands on an unusual range of music that spans Sting, The Cure, Craig David, Manu Chao, DJ Spooky and Cheb I Sabbah. Kale is also a drummer and tabla player who's been studying Indian classical music since he was 4 years old. He's been a member of Baba Maal's touring band and is also the drummer for the international supergroup Tabla Beat Science.

Last weekend, speaking from his home in Brooklyn, Kale described the new album as being a departure from his house-heavy debut. "This record, as opposed to the last record, is more cinematic, more film score-like," he explains. "It takes bits of the club scene, of the film genre, of the rock scene and brings them together in a way that I would like to perform the music [live]. What I've done with this record is to create a landscape that is very much about live musicians. For me, this record is a step forward from making a DJ record."

Elaborating on this point, Kale says, "I'm a DJ, but in my deepest soul I'm asking to play everything live. When I'm able to do that, when I'm able to be onstage and the musicians are communicating and we're getting the energy back from the audience, I think that's when you've come full circle with a track. In DJing it doesn't really give it back to me the way it does when I play live."

Given his strong musical sensibilities, it is no surprise that Kale finds much of today's music problematic. While he appreciates the utility of his own mobile studio, Kale worries that too many musicians and producers become so dazzled by studio tools that they lose sight of the music itself.

"There's a lot of production that goes into the music we listen to nowadays that becomes dated very quickly," he says. "It's very 'now,' it's the latest [studio] trick we can do to a vocal part or a flute part or a drum part that makes the music become so oversaturated that it makes all the music recorded within that time sound dated."

Kale is also wary of being associated with commerce-driven remixes. He is quick to draw a distinction between himself and someone who remixes a pop song simply to translate it for the club scene. "A record company might say, we wanna open up this pop singer in the house-music market so let's do a house remix. And then they go after the biggest-name house remix artists. For myself, I don't do remixes for that reason and I wouldn't even consider myself a good choice to do, say, a house remix of someone's work. I could do it, but my thing is doing my own music."

His "own music" could be termed "Asian Massive," a term that he coined to refer to a loose movement of mostly young South Asian musicians whose sensibilities are informed by electronic music, but who retain a strong connection with the ancient, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. Before it gained popularity in the United States and elsewhere in the past couple of years, this movement is said to have started in London roughly a decade ago, where it was also known as "Asian Underground." However, you could argue that in spite of the demonstrative names, this music is less a revolution than it is a stage in the evolution of music that has existed for centuries.

This Saturday night, Kale will be playing a DJ set as well as two live sets at a Dakini Nights (Vol. 10) party at Club Cay in Aoyama. In addition to his music, the party will feature sets by Tokyo-based DJ Makyo, along with the added stimuli of a visual artist and a troupe of belly dancers. Kale and Makyo will also appear on "Sky Dancing: Nada Masala Vol. 3" to be released this spring on Makyo's 5-year-old label Dakini Records.